End of Waking Dreams Style
He wears a black jacket with a black straight tie and a white undershirt. The twin pistols are in their holsters, and all is right with the world. He is alone. The man looks up, knows the man is there, hiding with a knife. He smiles, serenely, as if death holds no fear for him. The one with a knife runs forward and stabs the man in the stomach, once, twice, three times, each time the hot blood pouring over the hilt, the wet, slick knife slashing through the Agent's guts. He staggers away, miraculously still alive, and throws multiple ineffectual punches. The one with a knife laughs. "I thought you Exalted were supposed to be tough!" The man in the suit simply smiles. "That depends entirely on where you are looking," he notes, blood dripping down his fresh shirt. He takes a form that looks like it couldn't defend against a mosquito, never mind an armed fellow. The man with a knife charges- Where did the suit go? The answering breath is whispered in his ear after he feels a blow impact the side of his skull, "Behind you..." Piercing the Veil of Dreams Cost: 3m; Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 2 Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None The first thing that any dream ender must learn is how to pierce through the everyday dreams around them and see the truth. This Charm grants (Martial Arts) dice to any Perception check and forces a roll-off against any supernatural illusion, such as a supernatural disguise or stealth ability. Illusions of Prowess Cost: 3m Mins: Martial Arts 3, Essence 2 Type: Reflexive Keywords: Combo-OK, Illusion Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Piercing the Veil of Dreams One of the most common delusions in the world is that one has more competence or intelligence than everyone else gives you credit for. Taking advantage of this fact can bring down even the mightiest, and the dream ender knows this all too well. This Charm acts as a defense, adding the martial artist's Martial Arts to his Dodge DV calculation. In addition, if the assailant misses, this Charm generates an Illusion effect that makes the opponent believe that his attack hit the dream ender. Illusions of Invincibility Cost: 3m Mins: Martial Arts 2, Essence 2 Type: Supplemental Keywords: Combo-OK, Illusion Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Piercing the Veil of Dreams It is the province of the young and the Exalted to think themselves immune from damage, and this Charm only adds to that illusion. Curling the power of images to his advantage, this Charm adds the user's Essence in dice to the attack. If it hits, this attack inflicts an Illusion effect that the dream ender actually missed, but this is a double-edged sword- the victim also ignores wound penalties from that blow, even if it would normally Incapacitate him. End Of Waking Dreams Form Cost: 5m Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3 Type: '''Simple (DV -1) Keywords: Combo-Basic, Form, Obvious Duration: One scene Prerequisite Charms: Illusions of Prowess, Illusions of Invincibility The world is an illusion, combat even more so. Taking this lesson to heart, the Dream Ender takes a stance that is deceptively powerful, yet surprisingly supple on the defense, and his own anima begins to wrap him in a shimmering film of illusion which his opening third eye allows him to pierce through. This form inflicts an internal penalty of the user's Essence to all attempts to attack or defend against him, as the shimmering illusions mask his real movements. Leveraging The Lost Soul Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3 Type: Simple Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: One scene Prerequisite Charms: End of Waking Dreams Form Having learned of the beginnings of delusion, it is now possible for the dream ender to use that force to his advantage, using the illusions he has built to create weakness. This Charm grants a bonus to the martial artist's Martial Arts and Dodge pools equal to the number of illusions the target or attacker is under, to a maximum of the martial artist's Essence. This does not count as dice added from Charms. Loss of Grandeur Method Cost: 3m, 1 illusion effect Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3 Type: Reflexive (Step 9) Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack, Obvious Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: End of Waking Dreams Form The opponent of a Dream Ender becomes a legend in his own mind- and in this moment of hubris, he is brought low. This Charm is activated in step nine, and is only available if the opponent is under an Illusion effect; it lets the martial artist counterattack in Step Nine of attack resolution at her full dice pool. It also allows the dream ender to place distance between her and her assailant, ending up (Deterity+Martial Arts) yards away. However, using this Charm partially strips away at the carefully constructed illusions the Dream Ender has already put into place, removing one such effect from the target of the Counterattack, oldest first. Weaving A Web of Story Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3 Type: Extra Action Keywords: Combo-OK, Illusion Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Loss of Grandeur Method, Leveraging the Lost Soul Sometimes, to win, it is necessary to delude the opponent into a false sense of security, wrapping them in the safe idea that they are beyond reproach; Dream Enders know very well how to do this. This Charm allows a magical flurry of up to (Essence) attacks, all at the character's full dice pool, at a maximum DV penalty of -1. If the attacks hit, none of them do any damage, but rather appear to the opponent to miss as the martial artist poisons the opponent's chakras of observation and perception, causing him to make mistakes. Each such hit inflicts a -1 internal penalty as an Illusion effect, to a maximum of (Martial Arts), after which neither the Illusion effects, nor the penalty, stack. Fogged From The Truth Cost: 3m, 1 Illusion Effect, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3 Type: Supplemental Keywords: Combo-OK Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Leveraging the Lost Soul, Loss of Grandeur Method Reaching into the heart of the illusion he is becoming, the dream ender makes every motion around his opponent indistinct, blurring all until he himself is lost in the movement. This Charm supplements an attempt to re-establish surprise against an opponent. Removing an Illusion effect of his choice, the martial artist adds his Martial Arts rating to the attempt and removes any penalty for re-establishing surprise. Illusion-Breaking Phantom Storm Cost: 6m, up to 5 Illusion Effects, Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 4 Type: Extra Action Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Weave A Web of Story, Wreathed About With Phantoms And in the end, the dream ends, as was always promised; crashing about his opponent's ears, there is nothing left but loss. This Charm generates a magical flurry of a rate equal to the amount of Illusion effects the opponent is currently under, to a maximum of five such strikes, at the martial artist's full dice pool and no DV penalty. Each attack strips away one of the illusions the opponent suffers, and each such Illusion is shattered in an unexpected fashion, granting a fresh chance to re-establish surprise for the Martial Artist at no penalty. Illusions are stripped starting with the oldest such effect first. This might have the ironic effect of stripping away Illusion effects neither the martial artist nor the opponent were aware of! In that case, if an Illusion requires more than one Willpower to fully shake off, each attack counts as one Willpower and a scene for those purposes. As a final note, in order to strip away Illusions with this Charm, he must attack with the intent of doing damage, so tapping someone with this Charm to break an Illusion on a friend does not work. Category:Exalted